The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for manufacturing articles of manufacture from hydraulically settable mixtures containing filaments (i.e., continuous fibers). More particularly, the invention relates to methods and systems for extruding hydraulically settable mixtures into desired shapes or articles while simultaneously placing filaments within the structural matrix of the extruded articles. The hydraulically settable mixtures are microstructurally engineered to have theological properties that render the mixtures highly extrudable under pressure and then form stable immediately after they have been extruded, even while in the green or unhardened state. The filaments within the hydraulically settable matrix of the extruded articles increase the, e.g., tensile strength, flexural strength, burst strength (in the case of pipes or other hollow articles), elasticity modulus, and elongation and deflection before rupture of the extruded articles.